Instructional design/Interpersonal behaviors/Delivery

Introduction

There are many different delivery methods and considerations that can be used within the Interpersonal domain. The questions is...which do you choose? First you need to start with what the specific need is in your area. If the group you are a part of feels "on edge" or is not open to new ideas, then Collaboration might be the right direction. Maybe the group can't make up their minds and make decisions about problems or projects, then Leadership or Decision Making might be right up your alley. This lesson consists of five sections:

an overview of the different Interpersonal models for training
strategies for developing the instructional content
lesson summary
practice session
assessment

Learning Objective

Upon completion of this lesson:

Given the task of developing a course designed to teach interpersonal skills, the learner will be able to determine the delivery methods and considerations when developing instructional materials that target the interpersonal domain. This will be measured by the completion of the assessment at the end of the lesson.

In addition, the learner will also be able to:

List differences in each model
Name considerations when selecting instructional materials
Identify resources for developing instructional materials for the interpersonal domain

Overview

The interpersonal domain is all about people and relationships. It is all about how people interact with one another and the communication that does (or does not) occur between others. The instructional materials should allow for interaction or assimilation of the knowledge that is needed to deal with people. See Types of Interpersonal skills Whenever you create training for interpersonal skills, the final instrument should include a way so that activities can be practiced and measured.

The materials should identify the learning performance standards as these performances guide the design of the activities. In fact there are three different reasons or perspectives of Interpersonal skills. There is Developmental, Remedial, and Specialized. The first (Developmental) deals mostly with children. The second (remedial) deals more with trying to help others develop the Interpersonal skills that may be lacking from underdevelopment. The last (Specialized) is working more with adults in work or business settings.

We are now going to look at different possibilities that can be used when choosing a delivery method for your instruction.

Strategies for Choosing Delivery Methods

When choosing the delivery method fof your instruction, you must look at how people and groups interact and learn. Are your "students" more of the behaviorist mindset, wanting to see the information and digest it on their own, or are they more of the hands-on where they want to get involved with the learning? Remember, experience is the best teacher and with Interpersonal Skills, the only way to get better is to use them.

However, there are great ways to use self-study programs with behaviors. Lets look and some delivery methods and how they can be used to create the training you want your "students" to use and understand.

**Interpersonal Delivery Categories**
Category	Definition	Examples
Self Study	Self paced, paper or computer based training to describe and identify the correct behavior that a person would use in different settings	Privacy on information training: Instructing the person what to do when asked for sensitive material
Instructor Led	One on one, or small group setting where peers can interact and share best method for handling Interpersonal behaviors.	Listening and interactions as well as counseling or tutoring would be most effective
Simulations (computer based)	Using a computer and situations generated on the program, learner produces and choosed the correct answer to solve the Interpersonal behavior problem	Examples of what can or has happened in real life. "How would you handle this situation?"
Simulations or Workshops (role play)	Within groups large or small, used for role play and real life scenarios. Also a forum for new ideas to be discussed using scripts to act out different possibilities of Interpersonal behavior issues	How to handle conflict or give/recieve feedback and still be civil, Team building excercises, department meetings

Lets discuss each type of instruction in more detail to determine when each should be used. There are some Interpersonal issused that can be address using self study techniques.

Self Study

Although, it is hard to change people's behavior when the information is not being communicated by another person, there are times when all that is needed is a friendly reminder.

Teamwork is one quick example that can be used in a self study. If you have ever gone through the drive thru of a fast food restaurant, you probably have seen the results of a self study to help the employees interact with the customers. "The customer is always right" and "Remember to Smile" are two well known sayings that help the employee to stay calm in the face of adversity.

However, adults do not normally prefer to learn by self study. They would rather hear real life stories to determine what has worked and what has not. If there is a way to incorporate video or stories to help strengthen the learning, it should be done. (Molenda 2005)

Another example deals with privacy.

Tayna works for a company that keeps a phone and information directory on the computer network. One afternoon, someone calls her pretending to be an employee of the company and needs confidential forms sent to them immediately for a meeting. The imposter named a couple executive names that worked for the company and Tayna send the information to the email the person gave. The imposter used the information against the company. Question: How do you train someone to review personnel information and know when and when not to give out confidential information? This would be perfect for a self study on paper or the computer. Giving cases that can be reviewed by the learner would give the correct information on what to do in the different possible interactions.

Instructor Led

Being with small groups, instructor led training in the Interpersonal realm works well when an individual or a very small group is in conflict. Seeking or giving information to solve a problem is how to start the training (conversation) Proposing new ideas to help resolve any conflict will help further the communication for best practices. Listening to others will help reinforce your awareness to sensitive situations. Refering back to Defining Terms, relationships can fall under this category. Anything from a boss-coworker, teacher-child, to friends at home or work could be within this area. An instructor based training could be created to handle difficult situations at work to help someone deal with a rude or insubordinate worker. As long as listening is involved to determine the root cause of the issue, the training will be sound.

"The presence of an instructor and fellow learners gives a social dimension that is difficult to replace ... The ability to adapt spontaneously and flexibly to the group’s needs, the ability to share stories, the opportunity to network, ... to learn to give the classroom environment numerous advantages. It is especially appropriate for pursuing interpersonal skills, seeing demonstrations of skills, and practicing those skills with immediate feedback and corrective guidance. " (Molenda 2005)

Computer Based Simulations

Quest Atlantis is a great example of computer based learning. It is a 3-D world in which you are a character in a virtual world. You can talk with different people who reside in the world as well as other players who are playing in the world. This type of learning is simulating a real world problem in a "safe" virtual world. Here, different models of problem solving can be employed. Imagine simulations where Interpersonal skills can be tried without actually hurting or helping others with conflict. Here, peer-sharing, cooperative learning and group simulations can be used in the Quest virtual world.

Simulations (role play workshops)

Simulations, or live role playing workshops, allow the learners to actually try the skills they have been taught. Role playing allows teams, departmens and larger groups to pretend and work through real problems or scenarios that could or have been problems that other groups have faced. An example for live simulations could be in interviews for a job. Cory is going to interview people for a job in your company. However, he has no idea what questions to ask the individuals. What can Cory do to learn what to ask? A simulation or role playing class would allow him to know what questions to ask, and what questions not to ask. Also, after playing each role (the interviewer and interviewee) Cory is more comfortable with the interview process. Simulations provide a way to improve the following skills:

Listening and communicating
Interpersonal interactions
Team games
Cooperative learning
Leadership activities
Peer Activities such as counseling and tutoring

Practice

To answer the following questions, use the lesson above to determine the correct answer.

Which delivery method of Interpersonal skills is self paced and can be used to inform people of the changes that need to be made?
Which delivery method can be used in small groups?

1. Self Study. 2. Instructor Led and Simulations or Workshops (role play). Kei (discuss • contribs) 21:39, 22 February 2014 (UTC)
1. Self Study. 2. I think all of them can be used in small groups. Elbow8703 00:30, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Assessment

You are a teacher at an elementary school and one of the lessons for the year is manners and how to deal with people you don't like. Equipment at your disposal include your classroom, computers, and lessons on manners. Your class is very aclimated on computers and know how to play video games. This lesson is 2-3 days long. What different types of learning methods could you design to encompass the manners training?

Answer: If you as the teacher can program a computer program such as Quest Atlantis, this would be a great game-role playing scenario that would allow the students to play while learning manners. If they make mistakes in the computer progam, the activity would show them their mistakes and show them how to make the right decisions.

Role playing simulations such as acting out how to be nice ans ask how they feel when someone is mean to them. Using these two possible methods would allow the students to get hands on experience on how to behave (within reason) and what manners are and what they are for.

References

Romiszowski, A. (1999). The Development of Physical Skills: Instruction in the Psychomotor Domain. (pp 462-463) In Reigeluth, C. M. (Ed). Instructional-design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory (Vol II). Mahwah, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Computer-based role playing for interpersonal skills training

Thesis Universiteit Twente Enschede - With ref.- Met samenvatting in het Nederlands ISBN 90-365-11305 1998. G.A. Holsbrink-Engels

Molenda, M., Russell, J.D. 2005. Instruction as an Intervention http://www.indiana.edu/~molpage/Instruction%20as%20Interven.pdf

What's next?

Move to the next lesson

Strategies for Developing Instructional Materials for the Interpersonal Domain

Back to Interpersonal Behaviors